As A Lightning Bolt
by Densharr
Summary: Wally's determined to let Artemis know how he feels.  But the real question is: how does SHE feel?  Spitfire Angst


**As A Lightning Bolt**

Standard Disclaimers apply

- - - oOo - - -

Wally grinned as he ran a comb through his hair. He grinned at his reflection in the mirror before blowing himself a kiss. Grabbing a bottle of gel, he squirted out a decent amount and briskly worked it into his hair. He was slightly annoyed that he couldn't use superspeed for a little thing like this. Trial and error had proven that no matter what brand of gel he used, none of them had any sort of heat resistance, so any product in his hair would simply disappear, leaving his unruly hair even more of a mess.

Kid Flash zoomed off to school. Although it was miles away, he easily made the dash in a few seconds. Remembering himself at the last second, he veered into an alleyway a couple blocks past the school. _No use letting the ladies know that a real superhero goes to their school, now, is there? 'Sides, Bats would throw a fit._ Even the care-free speedster feared the Dark Knight's displeasure. He couldn't imagine how Dick put up with it all the time. He saw a hooded figure pass by the alley, and he recognised the silhouette instantly.

"Dude! Wassup?" Wally 'ran' out of the alley, barely catching up to him before he cleared the alley.

"Wally? That you, man? What were you doing in that alley?"

"Ummm... I thought I saw something." At his friend's sceptical look, he shrugged. "Okay, I thought that I saw a hot chick run in there. Happy?"

His friend just laughed. "That's more like the Wally I know. Always looking for his next conquest. No, wait, he doesn't even do that. Man's still a virgin."

"Denny Colt, you shut your face right now. That was told in confidence!" Wally sighed as the older boy lightly punched his shoulder. Denny Colt was in twelfth grade, and was due to graduate in a couple of months. The two had struck up a friendship a couple years ago, and he'd been getting romance tips from the older boy for most of that time. "Actually... you could give me a hand with something."

"Or do you mean some_one_?" At the blush rising in the redhead's cheeks, he knew that he'd hit pay dirt. "Huh. You must really like her, then."

"Wh... what do you mean?"

"Come on, man, it's obvious. The blush, the nervousness in asking _moi_, the Love Guru, for advice, oh Romance Rookie. I mean, did you ever even get Susie in Mrs. Em's class to kiss you?" Wally muttered something under his breath as he kicked a piece of trash. "...and that silence means no, friend. I'd bet ten bucks that you got slapped again, didn't you?"

"...No, just her drink thrown at me."

"Tell me it was water."

The redhead smiled crookedly. "With my luck? You know better than that. It was her coffee. HOT coffee."

Denny bit back a grimace. "Damn, man. Sucks to be you. I tell you, you're too forward with girls. They like a little... dunno, _class_. So what's the deal with this new girl – she anyone I know?"

He watched as his friend laughed. "No way do you know her man. I met her through-" Wally slapped a hand over his mouth before his mouth curved into a smug smile. "Work. I met her through work."

"She cute, at least?"

"Dude, she is _hot_. And she's even got a sexy name – Artemis. How cool is that?"

"Greek mythology... not bad. So, what's the problem?"

"Well... she's playing hard to get."

"Oh? What kind of hard to get?"

"...There's more than one kind?"

"Man, there's so much you have left to learn about women."

"Anyways, well... we always fight, and she only ever seems to really care about me when I'm in danger."

"Danger? What's so dangerous about your job?"

"Don't you remember? I intern at that chem lab downtown. Plenty of dangerous stuff in there. Can I finish?" At his friend's nod, he quickly calculated how much he should (and could) tell Denny before they got to school. "And one time when we were... pretending that we didn't know each other-it was a... team building exercise, don't ask- we had a pretty good time flirting, and I got the feeling that she was really into me, ya know?"

"Well, best I can tell, there's one of three things going on. One; she's got a crush on you, but she really has no idea how to show it in an appropriate way, especially since you guys work together. I mean, I remember this one chick, Grace, from a summer job that I worked at this year, and..." Wally glared him down. "Okay, sorry. Distracted. Number two; she's interested in you, but doesn't like how forwards you are, or doesn't really like your personality. I mean that weird team-building thing... And three... she just plain doesn't like you."

"What?"

"You heard me. I know, 'no woman can resist the West charm', but it's possible that she argues with you simply because she disagrees with you and has no romantic feelings for you what so ever. All you've got to do is figure out which of the three apply and go from there."

"But... I actually like _her_." Both boys knew how big of an admission this was from the younger boy. Usually Wally just went after the hot chicks, but this one he actually had feelings beyond that. Wally waved his friend off as they arrived at the school and went to their separate classes.

The rest of the day passed in a blur. Wally couldn't stop thinking about Artemis. He received a pair of detentions from class because he wasn't paying enough attention. He knew that this level of fascination probably wasn't healthy for him, but he couldn't help it. He reassured himself that so long as he didn't descend into crazy psycho-stalking and obsession that he'd be okay. By the time that he was free from detention, he was practically buzzing with nervous energy. He ran out the school cheering, and, seeing no-one anywhere near the back doors of the school, sped off back home to change before heading to his uncle's League transporter station.

- - - oOo - - -

"Recognise Kid Flash B Zero Three"

The light from the transporter briefly lit up the interior of Mount Justice as Kid Flash sped inside. "Yo, Team! What's going on? Supes? Miss M? Kaldur? Di-Rob? Anyone home?"

Nobody answered. The base was apparently empty. He rushed first to the training areas, to see if there was anybody there. Nobody. Although there was a not from Miss M about her and Supes going down to town on a date. He mentally crossed them off his list_. Alright, so that leaves me, Rob, Kaldur and Artie. I should be able to snag her along – Rob can help me distract Kaldur._ He had just started off to the kitchen/TV area when he heard an unmistakeable sound. Artemis's laughter. Not her scorning laughter that he was usually the victim of, but her true laugh that he'd only heard a few times before. Had he paid more attention before he entered, he might have heard the TV playing, or the deep thrumming of a masculine voice underneath Artemis's higher one.

"Hey Artie, I had a question..." he trailed off as he saw Artemis's blonde hair tucked neatly up to Kaldur's shoulder on the couch. He barely recognised the fact that she was laughing because Kaldur didn't understand some reference on the TV show. He didn't notice Robin sitting on the next couch over, watching the show with them. But he definitely noticed the gentle curve that graced Artemis's lips and the content look on Kaldur's face.

"What's up, Kid Flash?" Artemis raised herself up from leaning on Kaldur, hopped onto the back of the couch and swung her legs around. "What can I do for you?"

"I was wondering... if you had time... to go down to Happy Harbour in a bit... with me..."

"Why'd I want to do that? Besides, I'm kind of in the middle of something here. Robin and Kaldur here have never seen Firefly, so we're having a marathon. We were going to go out and grab a pizza in a couple of hours though. You wanna stay here and catch this with us?"

"I'm... I'm good. I think that I left something in Central City, actually. Some... homework that needs to be done. I'll catch y'all later, alright?" She shrugged and sat back down, curling even closer to Kaldur's side, not seeing the hurt in the speedster's eyes.

Robin looked over at his friend, but his eyes were slightly blinded from the TV, so he didn't notice the pain in the redhead's green eyes. "You sure, KF? This series is actually pretty awesome."

"Thanks, Rob, but nah. Catch you later?"

"You know it."

Kid Flash sped back to the transporter and barely gave it time to recognise him before darting past the event horizon. He ran from his uncle's house to his room in record time, where he pumped up his stereo before lying down on his bed. _Why_ him,_ Artemis? What does he possibly have that I don't? At least I'm human..._

He cringed as soon as the thought crossed his mind. He really didn't mind the fact that Kaldur'ahm was human – Miss Martian wasn't human either, but that didn't stop him from flirting with her. And Kaldur was a good guy – he wouldn't hurt Artie.

_But why couldn't she have chosen me?_

A/N: Anybody else get the feeling that any conversation between Wally and a civilian would have more than a few awkward pauses in it? Dick and Artemis are probably clever enough to think something up on the spot, but Wally tends to talk before thinking.


End file.
